In the past two days, JC Penney has come under fire for selling a shirt in the girls’ section that said “I’m too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me.” Change.org put up a petition demanding that JC Penney pull the shirt from its stock and apologize, and within 24 hours the company had done just that.

There’s still this shirt for sale, though: “My best subjects: boys, shopping, music, dancing.”

These things aren’t new. Women’s rights activists have been paying attention to gender gaps in education for decades, and ever since Teen Talk Barbie told girls that “math class is tough!” way back in 1992, the watch for dolls, toys, and clothes that tell girls that learning is for boys has spread into mainstream culture. So now, in 2011, why are these shirts still being made? We don’t really think that it’s cute for girls to want to shop instead of doing their homework, do we? Continue reading →

Demi Lovato tweets a bikini shot of herself, post-treatment for what she's called a "life-long disease."

Disney darling Demi Lovato made headlines earlier this year for entering a treatment center to cope with undisclosed issues that many speculated included cutting and disordered eating.

In an effort to demonstrate her newly-found confidence, Demi took to Twitter on Monday and posted a shot of herself in a revealing bikini.

“I’ve been working so hard to get healthy and fit,” she said. “I can’t believe I’m about to do this but I’m so excited.. Here’s my bikini time body!”

Dammit, I’m torn.

On one hand, major props to Demi. What a gutsy move for someone who continues to struggle with body image issues (she told Seventeen Magazine last month,  “I don’t think there’s going to be a day when I don’t think about food or my body, but I’m living with it, and I wish I could tell young girls to find their safe place and stay with it.”).

On the other hand, I’m scratching my head wondering why she (or her publicist, manager, agent, etc.) decided this was a good idea. Continue reading →

Well, it has been quite a night. It’s as if gender differences were the third player in the Super Bowl, almost an imaginary push-pull between men and women (usually with women being shown as “in power”). Here’s another one:

Super low-budget, right? Well, it’s part of the theme, though: making characters of both genders look like one-dimensional simpletons. i.e. All men want from women is sex, and women just aren’t interested — in fact, all they’re interested in, according to Pepsi Max, is his salary. Oh, and the idea that women are somehow preyed upon (even just in a man’s mind) and must resist men’s advances. What does this say about what companies *want* us to be in order to sell their products? You tell me.

How about “Don’t think. Just buy.”?

The last ad that irked us is this one from GoDaddy.

And you know the women did “it” in the end… GoDaddy — so tricky.

By the way, has anyone noticed that each GoDaddy ad features a woman who is staring, slack-jawed and admiring, at the GoDaddy girls? It’s as if advertisers are giving a nod to women, saying, “You like this, don’t you!? SHE doesn’t think it’s sexist… so neither should you.”

There you go, just lie down and go to sleep, ladies.

Oh, Faith Hill, why would you lent your likeness to a commercial that reminds men (again) that they only like “nice racks”?

And what if he DID express what’s really in his heart? That wouldn’t make him very manly, would it.

We love men and wish this commercial — and many others during this Super Bowl so far — would’ve given them a little more credit.

Here’s a typical, objectifying GoDaddy.com ad with a twist: Danica Patrick and the other GoDaddy girls (i.e. tight black tank tops, bustin’ out all over the place, short shorts), announce that the new GoDaddy.co girl is…. Joan Rivers.

“Ha ha ha,” we’re supposed to laugh, “Everyone thought she was hot, but she’s just that old, dried-up, plastic-surgeried broad, Joan Rivers!”

… but not before we all get a good look at a faceless “hot” woman.

I mean, I wouldn’t do Joan Rivers, but all-out showing people wincing with disgust? At one of the most accomplished women in show business? Not that cool.

(Don’t forget to comment below if you want to state your opinion!)

-Jennifer

Welcome to one of our favorite things to do here at About-Face: blogging about Super Bowl commercials as they air. We’ll do our best to keep up with all the good, bad, and well — worse — ads this year.

Then, later, this post will include links to all our Super Bowl posts for the year.

Happy watching, and reading!

Keeping it classy (heavy on the sarcasm), Diesel returns to our gallery as a repeat offender.

The moment you’ve been waiting for has arrived: It’s time to announce the 2010 About-Face Gallery of Offenders and Gallery of Winners!

From pre-pubescent pageant queens to disembodied derrieres, the offenders were in rare (often Photoshopped) form this year. We had a tough time narrowing down the ads, shows, videos, movies and more to a mere top ten list, given the astounding amount of horrendous material out there. Repeat offenders American Apparel and Diesel stayed true to their consistently misogynistic standards, while newcomers like PETA and Jillian Michaels made a strong impression with their messed up messages.

Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart make our list of winners in "The Runaways."

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom in the media this year. Thankfully, we managed to compile a  list of ten winners who exemplified what’s right with the media (we swear, there really are a few things being done right). See why we’re impressed with Glamour Magazine, thrilled with the rockin’ movie, The Runaways, and seriously moved by the sentimental words of underwear-promoting, singing fruit (no, really).

Our galleries are new and improved, and complete with links leading to comment pages where you can rant and rave (just remember to play nice) to your heart’s content.

Excited? Good.

Without further ado, please enjoy our Gallery of Offenders and Gallery of Winners!